ITHACA, N.Y. – The 14^th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse team was back in action on Saturday afternoon in the second game of the team's season-long four-game homestand, as the Bombers welcomed Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to Higgins Stadium. Looking to bounce back following IC's heartbreaking midweek defeat to No. 20 William Smith, the Bombers showed their resolve in dispatching a pesky RPI squad in a 12-7 final. The win essentially locks up a postseason berth to the Liberty League Tournament for the Bombers with three games left to play.
 
With the score tied at 7-7 late in the second half, the Bombers imposed their will to take control of the game in the final 11-minutes of regulation. Junior midfielder Erin McGee sparked a five-goal run to close the game when she finished off an expert feed from classmate Allie Panara to push IC back ahead for the fifth time in the game. IC went on to score four more in the final minutes, which included three-goals in a 1:05 stretch by sophomore Bailey Herr and junior Elizabeth Rice to pull away with little time remaining.
 
Saturday was another monster performance for Panara, who led all scorers with six points. She tallied one goal and amassed five additional assists, in the process tying Leslie Murphy '85 for fourth-place on the program's all-time list with 75 career helpers. Panara added one ground-ball, one caused turnover and four draw controls to her big statistical afternoon. Rice was on the receiving end of several of those scoring passes from Panara, as she finished with four goals to become the first Ithaca player to hit the 40-goal milestone this season. The junior attacker added a game-high five draw controls.
 
Adding multi-point efforts on the day were sophomores Bailey Herr and Katie Welch, as well as freshman Jacqui Hallack. Herr finished with three points on two goals and one assist, while Welch and Hallack each finished with a pair of scores on the afternoon. Junior Erin McGee finished with one goal, scoring the game-winner. Freshman Indira Varma rounded out the point scoring with an assist.
 
Defensively, Ithaca was rock solid in keeping RPI to the periphery for the majority of the game. The Bombers held RPI to 19 total shot attempts and just 11 shots on goal in the game, while they forced 15 caused turnovers in the tilt.
 
Once again it was senior captain Molly Long that turned in a second straight fantastic performance in the statistical categories. She finished with a game-high five caused turnovers and five ground-balls to pace IC's defensive group. Fellow senior captain Elizabeth Sauer added two caused turnovers and three ground-balls, while junior Reid Simoncini notched two caused turnovers and two ground-balls, as well as three draw controls.
 
Sophomore Becky Mehorter and freshman Molly Nodiff also were solid in the back. Mehorter posted one caused turnover and three ground-balls, while Nodiff chipped in one forced miscue and a grounder in a reserve role.
 
In goal, senior Kimberly Presuto had a relatively light afternoon, but was able to make four saves, corral two ground-balls, and add a caused turnover. The performance improved her record to 9-4 on the year.
 
The opening minute had the look of Ithaca potentially turning this one into a rout. The Bombers scored twice in the opening 35-seconds to race out to an early 2-0 advantage. On the first, Herr fed Rice with a great feed in the slot, which the junior sent past RPI's keeper Aleena Milinski.  Off the ensuing draw control win by Panara, she raced down the right wing and fired a laser into the upper right corner of the cage to double IC's advantage in the blink of an eye.
 
Milinski would prove to be a big storyline in this one, as the keeper allowed the Engineers to hang around late in the game. RPI's talented keeper stopped eight shots in the opening half, while she finished with 16 saves overall in the contest. With Milinski turning in virtuoso performance at one, RPI's attack fed off the momentum on the other side of the field. Maddy Aslansan scored twice and assisted on a third score, as the visitors pulled ahead 3-2 midway through the half.
 
Ithaca responded with a two-goal run as Hallack and Rice scored goals 3:14 apart to push IC back ahead 4-3 with 10-minutes left in the half. On the first, Panara sent Hallack a great pass from the right wing to the rookie cutting through the slot. On the run, Hallack wired a shot into the left side netting to equalize the game. Three-minutes later the Bombers struck in transition, as Sauer quick-upped a pass to Varma on the left flank. She charged into the attacking zone, before pulling up and hitting a trailer in Rice who had a wide open lane to the cage. She took three steps and fired a rocket into the lower right corner.
 
The final moments of the half continued to be close as a pair of RPI scores from Erin Goodwin sandwiched a Bailey Herr goal that was created on another great feed from Panara. The teams went into the half tied at 5-5 despite IC nearly doubling the Engineers in shot attempts.
 
RPI took its second lead of the game 3:54 into the second half when Morgan Doyle capitalized on a free-position opportunity. The lead would hold for nearly six minutes before the Bombers again leveled the score on the first of two goals by Welch in the second half. This goal came in transition, as Welch took possession of the ball near midfield and sliced through the RPI defense, before rifling a shot inside the right post on the run.
 
Ithaca pulled ahead 7-6 1:22 later when Hallack scored a great goal from the slot. The rookie again found a gap in the RPI back and Panara picked her out with a great pass from the center point. Hallack quickly turned and whipped a shot into the lower left.
 
RPI again proved to be a difficult nut to crack, as the Engineers pulled level with just over 13-minutes to play. IC looked to have all the momentum, as Leanne Jones was whistled for her second yellow card of the half to give the Bombers a woman-up opportunity. However, a turnover gave possession back to the Engineers and Doyle and Goodwin synced up a on great passing play to beat Presuto for the woman-down goal to tie the game at 7-7.
 
IC showed mental toughness to keep the pressure on to retake the lead just 1:56 later. Again it was Panara setting the table, as she found McGee streaking through the slot, while the latter launched a rocket inside the left post to send the home side back up 8-7. A little over two minutes later Welch reestablished IC's two-goal advantage when she scored from a tough angle on a free-position chance from the left side of the fan.
 
Ithaca took control of the game with a final flurry with just over seven-minutes left to play. The Bombers scored three times in a 1:05 stretch. Herr tallied the first goal on an unforced miscue by the Engineers on their clear. Milinski came well out of her crease, but failed to corral a pass, which Herr picked up and fired into a wide open cage. The goal proved to be a back-breaker for the visitors. After an ensuing draw control win by Rice she charged into the attacking zone and earned a free-position, which she converted 25-seconds later to up the lead to 11-7. Rice added another goal 40-seconds following to cap the scoring, again on a play setup by Panara.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Friday, April 20, when it welcomes Bard for a 4:00 p.m. start at Higgins Stadium. The Bombers will celebrate Senior Day the following afternoon when they welcome Vassar for a 2:00 p.m. start.